In 1954, Johnny Mathis enrolled at San Francisco State College with the intention of being a teacher. While there, Johnny, also a great athlete, set a high jump record of 6'-5 1/2." This is still on the College's Top 15 list and was only two inches short of the Olympic record of the time. A fellow student whose sextet was working at the Black Hawk nightclub brought Johnny in for a jam session. It was there that Helen Noga, co-owner of the club, first heard him sing. She decided that she wanted to manage his career.
In early September of 1955, Helen convinced George Avakian, then head of Jazz A&R at Columbia, to see him. Avakian heard Johnny sing and sent the now famous telegram to his record company: "Have found phenomenal 19 year old boy who could go all the way. Send blank contracts."
Avakian left for New York after telling Johnny that he would eventually send for him. Johnny continued his studies at San Francisco State and gained additional fame as a high jumper. In early 1956, Johnny was asked to attend the trials for the 1956 Olympic team. At the same time, Columbia requested that Johnny come to New York for his first recording session. His father Clem helped his son decide that his future and best interests were with the recording company. He went to New York to record his first album in March of 1956.
The first album was a collection of jazz oriented renditions of popular standards entitled: "Johnny Mathis: A New Sound In Popular Song." The album enjoyed only moderate success because jazz vocal albums were not good sellers. Nevertheless, Johnny remained in New York and landed bookings at some of the leading nightclubs, such as the Village Vanguard, The Blue Angel and Basin Street East.
Soon, Columbia placed Johnny under the supervision of producer Mitch Miller. Mitch favored using Johnny's voice to sing soft, romantic ballads. At his second recording session, in the fall of 1956, Johnny recorded two singles. These songs were to become among his most popular all-time greatest hits: "Wonderful, Wonderful" and "It's Not For Me To Say." "Wonderful, Wonderful" and "It's Not For Me To Say" reached their peaks on the BILLBOARD pop chart in July of 1957. These successes were followed by the monumental single "Chances Are" which became Johnny's first #1 hit.
In June of 1957, Johnny Mathis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show where he was introduced to the record-buying public and became a national celebrity and household name. Columbia Records continued to release albums. It was not uncommon for Johnny Mathis to have as many as four albums on the BILLBOARD Top Albums chart at the same time.
Johnny's accomplishments are numerous and varied. He holds many records and has set many precedents in the music industry. In 1958, two years after being signed by Columbia Records, Johnny's "Greatest Hits" was released. It went on to become one of the most popular albums of all time and spent an unprecedented 490 continuous weeks (almost ten years) on the BILLBOARD Top Albums Chart. According to record historian Joel Whitburn, Johnny Mathis is one of only five recording artists to have Top 40 Hits spanning each of the four decades since 1955. Amazingly, his second #1 Hit Single, "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" (recorded with Deniece Williams), came almost 21 years after his very first #1 Hit Single, "Chances Are."
In June of 1972, Johnny was awarded his own star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame two times.

Contact an Agent now to book Johnny Mathis to appear at your next corporate, private or special event!

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